Ribbon-feeding mechanism.



H. c. GAMMETER. RIBBON FEEDING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 16, 1914.

1,148,962. Patented Aug. 3, 1915.

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H. c. GAMMETER. RIBBON FEEDING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 16. 19 l4.

Patented Aug. 3, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

COLUMBIA PLANUGRAPH 60.. WASHINGTON. n. c.

TlNTTED @TATEg PATENT OFFTQE.

-'HARRY C. GAMMETER, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE AMERICAN MULIL.

GRAPH COMPANY, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

RIBBON-FEEDING MECHANISM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed June 16, 1914. Serial No. 845,484.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HARRY C. GAMMETER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, have. invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Ribbon-Feeding Mechanism, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

The object of this invention is to provide a very simple and efficient ribbon feeding mechanism for rotary printing machines.

The invention is particularly well adapted for small office printing machines, such, for example, as may be operated by hand.

The invention is hereinafter more fully explained and its essential characteristics set out in the claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a front elevation, partly broken away, of my machine;

Fig. 2 is a plan thereof; Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical section; Fig. 4: is a detail on an enlarged scale of the ribbon feeding mechanism looking in the same direction as Fig. 3; Fig. 5 is a plan view on the same scale of the parts shown in Fig. 4.

The frame of the machine, as shown, comprises upright end plates 10 and 11 and cross members 12 and 13 secured thereto. Journaled on the end plates is a shaft 17 having suitable means for rotating it, as the crank 18. Mounted on the shank between the end plates is a drum comprising end members 21 and 22 and an incomplete cylindrical surface 20 carried by the end members. This surface 20 has suitable means for holding the printing form, as, for example parallel overhanging rails 23 which may carry between them lines of individual type T.

Mounted on the end member 22 of the drum is a gear 27 which meshes with a gear 30 connected with the platen 31 parallel with the drum. Accordingly, the drum, with its type and the platen produce a printing couple, the ribbon, as hereinafter described, being provided to furnish the ink.

The curved surface of the drum has been described as partially cylindrical, this leaving an opening into the interior of the drum. Mounted in the interior and accessible through this opening are a pair of spools 4:0 and 41 which carry the wound ends of the ribbon R which pass intermediately about the type on the drum. At one end these spools are journaled on the projecting points or studs 4:2 and 43 which are mounted in the end 22 of the drum. These studs are slidable in their mounting and are pressed toward the spools by surrounding springs 45. A suitable wire 4L7 extending through the studs prevents them from coming out of the end of the drum. At their other ends these spools surround studs 52 which project from heads 53 on a pair of ratchet wheels and 51 rotatably carried on the end 21 of the drum. Suitable pins, as 5e, may connect these wheels with the spool flanges so that the spools are turned when the ratchets are turned, thus feeding the ribbon.

To drive either ratchet as desired, I provide the following mechanism: On the inner side of the frame member 10 is an annular groove 14L which is preferably circular but is eccentrically placed about the axis of the drum. Within the drum end 21 is a radially placed notch 28 having parallel sides and within this notch is slidable a block 60. This block carries a roller 65 occupying the groove 14- which causes the block to travel in and out as the drum is rotated. Pivoted to the block by a screw 72 is a double-acting pawl 67 having noses 68 and 69. A tension spring 70 is anchored at one end to the block and at the other end to the arm 71 journaled on the screw 72. The pin 73 which forms the anchorage of the spring to this arm extends through the arm and carries the top of the block 60 and is adapted to occupy either of two notches 75 and 76 in the pawl, which holds the pawl in position to engage the right hand ratchet 51, as

shown. With the arm 71 in the position shown in Fig. 3, the pin 73 is in the notch 76 on the right hand side and the pawl is in position so that the nose 68 engages the left hand ratchet 50.

It will be seen from the above description that the pawl is always in position to engage one or the other ratchet, and, accordingly, as the drum is rotated. one or the other ratchet is periodically rotated to feed the ribbon. When the ribbon becomes entirely wound on the intake spool it is only necessary for the operator to throw the arm 71 over to its other position. thus shifting the pawl into coaction with the other ratchet. It will be noted that the spring 70 moves past a dead center in going to either extreme position, and hence this one spring may hold the pawl in either position, as desired.

It is desirable to make the drum removable from the machine so that the frame thereon may be kept standing and another drum substituted. To accomplish this I clamp the drum to the shaft 17 by a screw 19 screwing through a boss on the frame member 22. This screw is easily accessible through the space the ribbon spools normally occupy. I provide also a notch 15 into the groove 14:. To change the drum therefore it is only necessary to remove the spools with their ribbon; turn the drum until the roller comes opposite the notch 15, and remove the block 60 with its attached parts; remove the screw 19 and draw out the shaft which is attached to the crank. The drum is then free to be lifted out.

Having thus described my invention,

what I claim is:

1. The combination of a frame, a removable rotary drum, a ratchet wheel carried thereby, a spool in the drum connected with the ratchet wheel, a removable device carried by the drum for driving the ratchet wheel, a roller on said device, and a stationary annular cam which said roller engages as the drum rotates.

2. The combination, with a frame including an end member, of a drum journaled in r the frame, there being an annular groove eccentric of the drum axis on the inner face of said end member, and a ribbon feeding mechanism on the drum having a portion occupying such annular groove.

3. The combination of a pair of upright frame plates, a shaft journaled therein, a drum between the frame plates on the shaft, a ribbon spool mounted in the drum, a radially slidable block carried'by the drum, a stationary cam on the inner side of one of the frame plates, a roller carried by the block engaging such cam, andmeans for turning the ribbon spool operated by the block. I i

4. The combination, with a rotary drum, of a slide-way therein, a block slidable in said way, a pair of ratchet wheels, means carried by the block for operating either ratchet, a roller carried by the block, and a member adjacent to the end of the drum having an eccentric annular groove in which the roller engages.

5. The combination, with a rotary drum, of a slide-way therein, a block slidable in said way, a pair of ratchet wheels, means carried by the block for operating-either ratchet, a roller carried by the block, and a cam rigid with the frame member adjacent to the end of the drum for engaging th roller. Y

6. The combination of a rotary drum, an open-ended slide-way carried thereby, a removable block in said slide-way, a double faced pawl carried by said block, a spring, means for causing the same to tip the pawl in either of two directions, two ratchet wheels, either of which may be operated by the pawl, and means for reciprocating the block as the drum rotates.

7. The combination, with a frame, of a shaft journaled therein, a drum mounted on said shaft and having an end member, there being a radially placed open-ended notch in said end member, a block slidable in and out in said notch, means for causing the block to so reciprocate when the drum rotates, a pair of ratchet wheels, and means carried by the block for driving either ratchet.

8. The combination, with a frame, of a shaft journaled therein, a drum removably mounted'on said shaft and having an end member, there being a radially placed openended notch in said end member, a block slidable in and out in said notch, means for causing the block to so reciprocate when the drum rotates, comprising an annular eccentric groove in the frame and a roller on the block occupying the groove, there being an:

open-ended notch communicating with the groove and enabling the removal of the roller, a pair of wheels on the drum, and

means carried by the block for driving. either ratchet wheel.

9. The combination of arotary drum, a block slidably carried thereby, means for reciprocatingthe block as the drum rotates,

an arm also pivotally carried by the block and adapted to engage the pawl, a spring acting on the arm, a pair of ratchet wheels, either of which is adapted to beengaged by the pawl, an end frame in which the drum shaft is journaled, said frame having an eccentrically placed annular groove in its inner side, and a roller carried by the block and occupying said groove.

11. The combination, with a frame, of a shaft journaled therein and removable therefrom, a drum removably mounted on the shaft, ribbon feeding mechanism carried by the drum including a block reciproeating in an open notch in the drum, and driving mechanism for the block including an annular groove in the end frame having a notch, whereby the ribbon feeding mechanism may be removed from the drum and the drum from the shaft on the frame.

12. The combination, with a frame, having an end member, of a drum journaled in the frame, a ribbon feeding mechanism carried by the drum including a reciprocable block having a roller, said end member having on its inner face an eccentrically placed annular groove occupied by said roll, and there being a notch leading outwardly from said groove to enable the removal therefrom of the roller.

13. The combination of a rotary drum, a block slidably carried thereby, means for reciprocating the block as the drum rotates, a double-faced pawl pivoted on said block, wheels, either of which is adapted to be engaged by the pawl, a spring acting on the arm for holding the pawl into engagement with the ratchet wheels, an end frame in which the drum shaft is journaled, said frame having an eccentrically placed annular groove in its inner side, and a roller carried by the block and occupying said groove.

14. The combination of a rotary drum,-a ratchet Wheel carried thereby, a movable device carried by the drum for driving the ratchet wheel, a stationary grooved cam adjacent the drum, means on the movable device engaging said cam whereby the ratchet wheel is driven in and out when the drum is rotated, and means enabling said device to be removed without disassemblage from the drum and cam.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto alfix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

HARRY C. GAMMETER.

Witnesses:

E. S. KoENEc, T. H. WHITE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. 0. 

